WDTalk

GameRail Launches at QuakeCon 2007
High-Performance Network for Online Games Gives Subscribers the Edge

ST. LOUIS & DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–At today’s opening of QuakeCon 2007, GameRail announced the official launch of its private high-performance network exclusively for online games, providing gamers an extraordinary advantage through substantially lower latency.

GameRail is the first and only high-performance low-latency private network in North America dedicated to the online PC gaming community. GameRail’s revolutionary bypass network was designed to meet the speed and quality needs of online gamers and delivers a “direct-connect” from the player to the game host, avoiding the congestion and inefficient routing paths of the traditional Internet. Lower pings and fewer hops mean more frags and a better overall online gaming experience. A reasonably priced subscription-based service, GameRail is installed as an easy-to-use, full-featured desktop client that includes a rich integrated game browser.

“The newest release of the GameRail client provides our subscribers with an unbelievable visualization tool that confirms GameRail’s performance while giving them a simple one-stop experience for finding and joining games,” said GameRail’s CEO, Mark Senda. “We’re thrilled to be launching GameRail at QuakeCon, one of the largest player-oriented conventions. Here we can truly show players first hand just how much GameRail can have a positive impact on their gaming experience.”

Online multiplayer computer gaming is one of the fastest growing entertainment activities in the U.S., with over 40 million people now playing regularly. GameRail is connecting over 34 million homes in the continental US, Alaska and Canada through partnerships with the top national and regional providers of DSL and cable broadband.

For more information about GameRail and to sign up for the free 30-day trial please visit the official website at www.gamerail.com.

About Gamerail

Progression LLC, a Missouri LLC, dba GameRail, (www.gamerail.com) is a facilities-based Content Delivery Network Operator that is dedicated to delivering superior performance to the online gaming community. GameRail directly connects game players with broadband to their favorite game hosts and vice versa, thereby eliminating game play degrading high latency hops on the Internet. GameRail has interconnection facilities in eight major US markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and St. Louis.

By Jerri Stroud
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/05/2007

Eben Shantz is an IT guy and uses Electric Internet, a joint venture between River City Internet and Ameren Energy Communications. (Kevin Manning/P-D)

When Eben Shantz gets tired of working in his downtown loft, he can take his computer to the rooftop lounge or anywhere else in the Ventana, a building that offers Internet access from any electric outlet.

The Ventana, 1635 Washington Avenue, is the first building in the St. Louis area with commercial “broadband over power line” service from Electric Internet, a joint venture between an Ameren Corp. subsidiary and River City Internet Group LLC of Maryland Heights.

“It’s really easy,” said Shantz, 26, a computer programmer who works for a California company from his loft. “You don’t have to set up anything weird.”

Shantz and other residents plug modems into an electric outlet, plug their computers into the modem’s Ethernet port, turn it on and start their browser software. The always-on connection uploads and downloads files at six megabits per second.

At the Ventana, the service costs about $13 a month, which is included in condo association fees. Tenants can order higher-speed connections from Electric Internet: 10-megabit service for $29 a month or 100-megabit service for $99 a month.

Electric Internet uses the electrical wiring within buildings to deliver Internet access to electrical outlets, building systems or hard-wired devices like security cameras. River City delivers Internet access to the building using telecommunications networks, not the power grid, and the Internet signal is then transmitted through the building’s electrical wiring.

“It has the most flexibilty,” said John Monshausen, vice president of Jacob Development Group, which owns the Ventana. “The tenants are extraordinarily happy.”

Electric Internet is putting the system into an assisted living facility in south St. Louis County, an apartment building in the Central West End and two Jacob Development Group projects besides the Ventana, said Trey Goede, executive vice president of River City.

Goede said Electric Internet can save a building owner money because it doesn’t require separate cables for Internet access. Developers don’t have to guess where tenants will want to use the service, either. Instead of putting in three or four Internet jacks per unit, they know that tenants can plug in at any outlet.

Ameren Energy Communications, an unregulated subsidiary of the power company, provides equipment for connecting the Internet to a building’s power system. River City acts as an Internet service provider, handling customer service and billing for the business.

The companies market the service jointly in the St. Louis area, said Cindy Bambini, project manager for Ameren Energy Communications. The utility may seek other partners elsewhere in its service area.

Electric Internet is marketing the service primarily to multi-tenant buildings, hospitals, office buildings and other commercial buildings. In most cases, the company is selling to developers of new buildings or those undergoing major renovation, Goede said.

Ameren has been testing Internet service delivered from its power poles to customers in Cape Girardeau for nearly five years, but it isn’t planning to expand beyond that test, Bambini said. Several regulatory and technology issues need to be overcome before Ameren could start selling Internet access over its power grid, she said.

jerristroud@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8384

Missouri and Southern Illinois based Charter High Speed Internet customers now have direct access to the GameRail network allowing them to bypass the Internet for a superior online gaming experience.

St. Louis, MO (Stl Press Releases) January 26, 2007 – Progression LLC, dba GameRail ( http://www.GameRail.com ), today announced that it has completed a direct connection to the Charter High Speed Internet service network. The new connection bypasses the Internet and allows Charter High Speed Internet subscribers in Missouri, St. Louis, and St. Louis Metro East to decrease ping times to online game servers throughout the country by 25% – 75%. GameRail’s nationwide network directly connects gamers to game servers. Online gamers with broadband Internet service from Charter now have the shortest and fastest path to performance game servers offering popular titles like America’s Army: Special Forces, Battlefield 2 Ranked and Unranked, Call of Duty, Counter Strike Source, Enemy Territory Fortress, Half Life: Condition Zero, Half Life/ Counter-Strike, Halo: Combat Evolved, Quake 4, Teamfortress Classic, Tribes Vengeance, Unreal Tournament 2004, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, as well as dedicated servers and TeamSpeak slot rental.

“The GameRail network is further expanded with Charter Communications Midwestern footprint. Our network’s reach today covers most major peering points with partners servicing broadband subscribers from as far as Fairbanks, Alaska and as near as Chesterfield, Missouri. Access providers and game server hosts continue to jump on the rail in order to offer their customers the best online gaming experience possible” said Blake Ashby, GameRails President. “Charter customers can see for themselves the improved performance by riding GameRail. They simply register at www.gamerail.com” Ashby furthered.

Online multiplayer computer gaming is one of the fastest growing entertainment activities in the U.S., with over 40 million people now playing regularly. GameRail recently introduced the first network designed to meet the speed and quality needs of online gaming. GameRail’s bypass network delivers a “direct-connect” from the game player to the game host and avoids the congestion and inefficient routing paths of the regular Internet. Once GameRail and the subscriber’s provider of Internet access are interconnected, the subscriber’s game play packets bypass the multi-hop, high latency Internet and hot route on a dedicated, national broadband network connected to the game host.

About Gamerail:

Progression LLC, a Missouri LLC dba GameRail, (www.gamerail.com) is a facilities-based network operator that is dedicated to delivering superior performance to the online gaming community. GameRail directly connects game players to their favorite game hosts and vice versa, thereby eliminating game play degrading high latency hops on the Internet. GameRail has interconnection facilities in 7 major US markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and St. Louis.

Contact:
John Alden
john.alden@gamerail.com

Collocation, Disaster Recovery and BCP Services to be Featured

St. Louis, MO (Stl Press Releases), October 31, 2006 – River City Internet Group, LLC (RCIG) is pleased to announce that it has opened its third St. Louis Data Center, a 27,000 square foot Tier I facility located downtown at 710 N. Tucker. This facility will compliment its other data centers located at its Maryland Heights headquarters and in the Bandwidth Exchange building at 900 Walnut. The new data center will give RCIG one of the areas largest carrier class facilities with immediately available space.

“The demand for quality collocation space for both production and disaster recovery initiatives continues to grow,” stated Peter Esparrago, RCIG President. “This new data center will allow RCIG to continue to expand our Business Continuity Planning offerings. In addition to having a robust network, power and cooling infrastructure, this facility will have office space, voice and data connectivity, and workspace for companies to utilize during a disaster. ”

The new data center, located in the Globe Building at 710 N. Tucker, will accept customers ranging from a single cabinet to several thousand square feet. It offers abundant high-speed connections to multiple and diverse Tier I providers, UPS and generator backup, and 24x7x365 on site staffing to support its customers.

“The new data center is a sign of our commitment to continuing to expand our business in the coming years,” stated Brian Matthews, RCIG CEO. RCIG is also planning to open a fourth data center, this one in Kansas City, during 2007.

About Hostirian:

Hostirian, a division of River City Internet Group (http://www.rcig.net) was founded to meet the needs of regional businesses seeking a local web hosting partner capable of providing state of the art and cost effective hosting facilities, superb customer service and assistance in marketing and managing their business’s web presence. Hostirian offers shared web hosting services and managed web hosting services to businesses operating mission critical, multi-functional Web sites. In addition we offer Web hosting services to the rapidly growing number of application service providers, enabling them to more efficiently deliver their application services to their customers over the Internet. We also offer related value-added services, such as firewall management, stress testing and consulting services including capacity and migration planning. Our services give the customer the option to use their own hardware and software or we can provide the hardware, s oftware, network technology, and systems management necessary to offer our customers comprehensive outsourced Web site and application hosting solutions.

Contact:
Steve Szachta
steve@hostirian.com

River City Internet Group completes managed build of new data center space to Peabody’s specifications, with move-in complete, managed network services follow.

St. Louis, MO (Stl Press Releases) October 23, 2006 – St. Louis, MO. October 23, 2006 – Peabody Energy today announced that it has successfully transitioned data center functionality to a new facility which was designed, built and managed by River City Internet Group (RCIG) . The facility is located in one of The Bandwidth Exchange Buildings, the Midwest’s premier carrier class data center facilities.

“Moving over 100 devices including servers, mainframes, legacy printers and also migrating data from legacy systems to new, highly robust systems was an event that we planned for and managed to, for over one year in advance” said Gary Kalbfleisch, VP Information Technologies, Peabody Energy. “River City Internet Group delivered from every aspect of the build and move, from their Senior Management, to onsite Support Engineers” Kalbfleisch furthered.

“Peabody Energy has such a great reputation for operational integrity, we really felt compelled to raise our own bar for service delivery to ensure their success and satisfaction” said River City’s President, Peter Esparrago.

Peabody Energy and RCIG have entered into agreements whereby RCIG delivers managed co-location space, network performance monitoring and other services for Peabody Energy.

About River City Internet Group

River City Internet Group (http://www.rcig.net) is an Internet delivery system holding company. RCIG  was founded in 2001 and invests in companies that are predominately focused on providing Enterprises and Carriers with Internet based products and services. In addition to traditional hosting and access services, RCIG offers, network monitoring and management, software development, wholesale back office and software services to Service Providers in the VoIP, IPTV, ISP, WISP and MVNO space.

Contact:
Brian L. Matthews
bmatthews@rcig.net

GameRail’s advanced performance, online gaming bypass network model validated by financial community.

St. Louis, MO (Stl Press Releases) September 28, 2006 – Progression Networks, dba GameRail (http://www.gamerail.com), today announced that it has successfully closed on its initial funding round. The lead investor is River City Internet Group (RCIG), an area technology company, which will also provide a range of services. Robert Guller, President of The Broadband Exchange Building, is also a significant investor. GameRail has established its office at the Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC) an area technology incubator.

“We are very pleased by the reception, enthusiasm and quick response of RCIG and our other investors, and also excited about the opportunity to join the TEC Incubator.” said GameRail’s President, Blake Ashby. “Our investors and partners are very sophisticated, and have decades of experience in technology and networking startups. Their investment is a great validation of our idea and the team we have assembled. With funding in place, we expect to go live with our initial network in the 4th quarter of this year,” Ashby furthered.

Online multiplayer computer gaming is one of the fastest growing entertainment activities in the U.S., with over 40 million people now playing regularly. GameRail will introduce the first network designed to meet the speed and quality needs of online gaming. GameRail’s bypass network delivers a “direct connect” for the game player to the game host. Players of online games currently must slog through dirty and congested Internet based transport lines, supporting geographically diverse players and game hosts via disparate providers. Present Internet based game play experience is further degraded by a lack of priority routing. GameRail subscribers are able to access GameRail’s bypass network through a partner access provider that has a local interconnection. The subscriber’s game play packets then bypass the multi-hop, high latency Internet and hot route on a dedicated, national broadband network connected to the game host.

“The GameRail network will change the expectations and economics of online multiplayer gaming” said Ashby. “Players of games like Counter Strike and World Of Warcraft will realize a significantly better game playing experience. Access providers and hosting companies will be able to give their customers a significantly better game playing experience while also reducing their own network and Internet costs. We will create a win-win situation for the industry.”

About GameRail:

Progression Networks, dba GameRail, a Missouri LLC, is a facilities-based network operator that is dedicated to delivering superior performance to the online gaming community. GameRail directly connects game players to their favorite game hosts and vice versa, thereby eliminating game play degrading high latency hops on the Internet. GameRail management is an accomplished, multi disciplined, tenured team with operational experience stemming from ISP, CLEC, Gaming, and Web Hosting industries with engineering, financial, customer support, sales and marketing backgrounds. The GameRail network will revolutionize online game play and seeks interested partners and players. 

About River City Internet Group:

River City Internet Group (RCIG) is an Internet delivery system holding company. RCIG (http://www.rcig.net) was founded in 2001 and invests in companies that are predominately focused on providing Enterprises and Carriers with Internet based products and services. Managing about a dozen investments and related web properties, RCIG has furthered its position in the online gaming space with like investments in the online game provider GameWatch (http://www.gamewatch.com) and online game tournament management system developer GameVantage. In addition to traditional hosting and access services, RCIG offers, network monitoring and management, software development, wholesale back office and software services to Service Providers in the VoIP, IPTV, ISP, WISP and MVNO space.

About TEC

The Technology Entrepreneur Center is the premier regional incubator for information technology and communications technology start up companies. With a mission to educate entrepreneurs and foster economic development, TEC provides unparalleled access to business mentoring, high-speed connectivity and cost-effective office amenities to help new companies become successful. TEC?s client companies include Global Velocity, Heaton Technology Services, iMobile Access Technologies (iMAT)

Media and Business Development Contact: John Alden, VP Corporate Development

Phone #: 314 -216-2044

Email: john.alden@gamerail.com

Website: http://www.gamerail.com

About Gamerail:

Progression LLC, a Missouri LLC dba GameRail, ( www.gamerail.com ) is a facilities-based network operator that is dedicated to delivering superior performance to the online gaming community. GameRail directly connects game players to their favorite game hosts and vice versa, thereby eliminating game play degrading high latency hops on the Internet. GameRail has interconnection facilities in 7 major US markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and St. Louis.

Contact:
John Alden
john.alden@gamerail.com

Gamerail Contact:
john.alden@gamerail.com

Ameren Subsidiary, River City Internet Group and Telkonet, Inc. Partner To Deliver In-Building Broadband Over Power Line Services (BPL) to Multi Dwelling Market

 In-building BPL enables commercial and MDU property owners to leverage their buildings? existing internal electrical wiring to deliver high-speed broadband Internet access to every electrical outlet, which becomes a broadband access port by simply plugging in a BPL modem. In-building BPL offers broadband speeds of six megabits per second (Mbps), significantly faster than cable or phone lines.

In addition to traditional high-speed Internet access, the in-building BPL platform provided by RCIG?s Electric Internet division will have the potential to deliver the following:

• Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
• Real time energy monitoring to improve energy efficiency and reliability
• In-building security and surveillance systems
• In-building communications through wired LCD panels in lobbies and elevators
• Building system controls for centralized heating, ventilation and air conditioning;
• Digital signage
• Secured network connections suitable for government travel standards
• Additional wireless “hot spots”

River City Internet Group will provide the Internet Service Provider (ISP) services for the platform, including Internet backhaul service, business management software, account setup, network implementation, monitoring and maintenance, 24/7 technical support and customer care, hosting and e-mail services.

“In-building BPL allows owners of commercial and MDU facilities to finally make their buildings “smart,”" said Trey Goede, executive vice president, River City Internet Group. “The platform offers more immediate functionality than alternative solutions at a fraction of the cost. Building owners and tenants alike share in the benefit of virtually limitless Internet Protocol (IP) applications by having broadband Internet access available from any electrical outlet in the building.”

Installation of the in-building BPL system can be completed in as little as a few hours or within a few days depending on the size and configuration of the building. The ease of installation prevents the typical time delays and disruption generally associated with running more expensive cable throughout the building.

Robert Crabb, vice president of sales and marketing for Telkonet, stated; “We have been working with Ameren for almost a year to validate the successful benefits of utilizing the Telkonet BPL technology in the MDU environment. Ameren’s customers rely upon the power they deliver to meet their basic daily needs. With Telkonet, Ameren’s customers can rely upon the same wires to deliver the power of information.”

Ameren and RCIG, utilizing Telkonet equipment, last fall conducted a successful trial of an in-building BPL platform at McGowan Brothers Development?s Grace Lofts on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis. Residential and commercial tenants of Grace Lofts were the first to use BPL for Internet access, Voice over IP services, wireless “hot spots,” etc., in the St. Louis area.

“We are excited to be able to leverage the success of the Grace Lofts trial, our core business knowledge of electrical systems and our partnership with these two leading-edge vendors, to enable this new technology’s launch in the marketplace,” says David Whiteley, Senior Vice President, Ameren Energy Communications.

About Ameren:

Ameren Energy Communications is a non-rate-regulated subsidiary of Ameren Corporation. Ameren, through its regulated utility subsidiaries, serves 2.4 million electric customers and nearly 1 million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.

About River City Internet Group:

River City Internet Group (RCIG) is an Internet delivery system holding company. RCIG (http://www.rcig.net) was founded in 2001 and invests in companies that are predominately focused on providing Enterprises and Communications Service providers with Internet-based services. In addition to traditional hosting and access services, RCIG offers network monitoring and management, software development, wholesale back office and software services to Service Providers in the VoIP, IPTV, ISP, WISP, BPL and MVNO space. RCIG has also furthered its presence in the Online Gaming industry with an investment in GameRail, a provider of performance based Game Networking.

About Telkonet:

Telkonet (AMEX: TKO), founded in 1999, is a leading high technology systems application developer of innovative powerline communications (PLC) solutions for the commercial, government, and industrial markets, establishing a range of patented award-winning systems. Telkonet is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland, USA, where a team of skilled professionals is employed across design, development, support, sales and administration.

About River City Internet Group:

River City Internet Group (RCIG) is an Internet delivery system holding company. RCIG (http://www.rcig.net) was founded in 2001 and invests in companies that are predominately focused on providing Enterprises and Carriers with Internet based products and services. In addition to traditional hosting and access services, RCIG offers, network monitoring and management, software development, wholesale back office and software services to Service Providers in the VoIP, IPTV, ISP, WISP and MVNO space.

Contact:
Brian L. Matthews
bmatthews@rcig.net

River City Internet Group Contact:
bmatthews@rcig.net

St. Louis, MO (Stl Press Releases) September 26, 2006 – St. Louis, MO, Sept. 26, 2006?Ameren Energy Communications and River City Internet Group (RCIG) have partnered with Telkonet, Inc. (AMEX: TKO), of Germantown, Md., to provide a unique in-building broadband over power lines (BPL) platform to commercial and multi dwelling unit facilities (MDUs) in Ameren?s Missouri and Illinois service areas. Telkonet is a leading power line communications equipment manufacturer and the leader in providing power line carrier (PLC) networking solutions using existing electrical wiring.